TMC alleges CAPF deployed for Bengal bypolls acting at behest of BJP
The Trinamool Congress has requested the Election Commission of India to take immediate cognizance of the matter
The Trinamool Congress has alleged that the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed in West Bengal for the upcoming bypolls were intimidating voters at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party and requested the Election Commission of India to take immediate cognizance of the matter.
The TMC has also sought details about the ratio of CAPF personnel to West Bengal state police personnel deployed for the bye elections, details of the duties assigned to them, and if the reported activities of CAPF personnel are in line with the ECI’s guidelines.
“...it has been brought to our notice that CAPF personnel alone, without presence of the State Police, are engaging in various illegal activities at the behest of their political masters (BJP). They are entering private residences to intimidate voters and adversely influence them to cast their votes in favour of the BJP. Such partisan behaviour is illegally skewing the impartiality and sanctity of the ensuing elections,” a delegation of TMC leaders, including Derek O’Brien and Saket Gokhale, submitted in their complaint to the poll body on Saturday.
In the letter, the TMC cited Section 8.5(c) of the ECI’s 2023 manual on force deployment in elections as per which “Every CAPF team should be provided with a representative of the local Police from the time of their induction till the completion of the electoral process, so that they could do their duty well because of their knowledge of terrain and local language.”
The TMC has also asked ECI to delineate the legal consequences of deviations from prescribed ECI guidelines, especially “in scenarios where such deviations may compromise the fairness and
integrity of the elections”.
In another complaint submitted to the ECI on Saturday, the TMC accused BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar of delivering “a false, derogatory and defamatory speech during an election rally in poll-bound Taldangra” on November 7. They also accused Majumdar of insulting the state emblem of India and state police as he said in Bengali, “Don’t act as an agent of Trinamool. Remove the Ashoka Stambh on your uniform and replace it with the symbol of a sandal. Don’t hide behind the uniform.”
The TMC said that these remarks maligned the state police and undermined its credibility and insulted the Ashoka Stambh.
The TMC has asked ECI to instruct Majumdar to tender an unconditional apology to the state police and to direct the BJP to not make defamatory, inflammatory and unverified remarks against the state police and state emblem.
“This constitutes a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, malign a neutral law enforcement agency, and create an atmosphere of distrust and hostility. Furthermore, this kind of politically motivated propaganda by BJP violates the spirit of free and fair elections. By spreading false and malicious allegations, it seeks to unduly influence voters, which may be considered a corrupt practice under the extant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” the complaint said.